Pentagon recommends 3,600 fewer Missouri military jobs

The Pentagon recommended May 13 that six Missouri installations close and two others realign. The report, made to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, suggests cutting 87 mostly military employees from Fort Leonard Wood and 3,679 base jobs across the state. Two other bases would gain employment under these recommendations, which nationwide are said to save the Defense Department nearly $50 billion over the next two decades.

Pulaski County Presiding Commissioner Tony Crismon said it could have been much worse at Fort Leonard Wood.

“I think we’re very fortunate that they didn’t put a big closed sign up here, which would have cut 10,000 people out here,” he said. “The construction industry had probably anticipated a bigger influx of people, but we can definitely live with this.”

U.S. Sens. Kit Bond and Jim Talent have joined Gov. Matt Blunt in voicing their displeasure with the recommendations for the state as a whole.

“I am extremely disappointed by the recommendations made by the Pentagon,” Blunt said in a news release. “These decisions will have a significant impact on the lives of thousands of Missourians, and I pledge to work with our congressional delegation to reverse these harmful recommendations.”

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the recommendations will better position U.S. military forces to confront modern threats, in addition to saving money.

“Our current arrangements, designed for the Cold War, must give way to the new demands of the war against extremism and other evolving 21st century challenges,” Rumsfeld said in his May 13 announcement.

The recommendations are now in the hands of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission chaired by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi. The commission began hearings on the specific recommendations May 16.